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Dickerson, Terrance
Status: active
Profile written June 28, 2026
This profile reflects positional accountability — this individual held the leadership roles shown during the dates shown, during which the listed deaths or lawsuits occurred. Inclusion does not constitute a legal finding of personal culpability for any specific incident.
Tenure Summary
Terrance Dickerson has served as Warden of the Jenkins Facility since January 1, 2024, holding the top facility‑lead role at the CoreCivic‑operated prison. GPS records attribute six deaths to his tenure there – two resulted from natural disease processes, one was a suicide by hanging, one was a homicide caused by chest trauma and massive blood loss, one stemmed from complications of pancreatitis, and one remains officially undetermined while the Georgia Bureau of Investigation medical examiner’s inquiry is pending. No civil lawsuits name Dickerson as a defendant, but his watch has coincided with litigation over parole practices and multiple incident reports linked to the facility.What happened on their watch
Jenkins Facility (2024 – present)
Dickerson’s tenure began with a natural death his second month. On March 3, 2024, Earl Franklin Waggy, 65, was found unresponsive in his bunk with rigor mortis; the Jenkins County Coroner’s investigation (case 2024‑03‑01) attributed the death to hypertensive and atherosclerotic cardiovascular disease. On September 17, 2024, James Lee Powell, 72, died in GDC custody at the Jenkins Correctional Center. The cause was not included in the coroner’s production of in‑custody death records and remains unknown; a GBI medical examiner death‑investigation/autopsy record has been queued for follow‑up, according to GPS.In 2025, the facility recorded one homicide and one suicide. On January 9, Alonzo Wright died from “homicide due to chest trauma with a large amount of blood loss,” per GPS records. On April 10, Jason Brent Melton, 41, hanged himself with a bedsheet attached to a bathroom light fixture; the coroner’s report (case 2025‑04‑01) confirmed ligature as the cause. In 2026, two more deaths occurred. Charles Edward Richey, 58, died on April 17 from cardiac arrest secondary to B‑cell lymphoma, diabetes, and seizures (coroner case 2026‑04‑02), having been admitted to an outside hospital eleven days earlier. Four days later, on April 21, Dustin Scott Scarbro, 27, died at Wellstar MCG Augusta from complications of necrotizing pancreatitis; he had been transferred from Jenkins CC on April 5 (coroner case 2026‑04‑04).
Beyond individual deaths, the facility was tied to multiple systemic events during Dickerson’s watch. A GPS intel report from April 21, 2026, relays an allegation that “[a]n older Hispanic inmate was found unconscious on the floor of his cell” at Jenkins; the circumstances were not further detailed. In March 2026, a federal judge denied a motion to dismiss in Buttrum v. Herring, ruling that the parole process for juvenile lifers may violate the Eighth Amendment; that litigation is docketed under Jenkins Facility. Other incidents linked to Jenkins during this period include a gang fight at Wilcox State Prison that sent nine people to the hospital (March 8, 2026), a complaint of “inhumane conditions at Telfair State Prison—segregation, food denial, communication cutoff” (May 17, 2025), and a report that Warden Brian Adams engaged in a RICO operation at Smith State Prison (December 28, 2024). None of these incident reports, however, name Dickerson as a direct participant.
Sources
- Jenkins County Coroner’s Office — death investigation reports for decedents Waggy, Powell, Melton, Richey, and Scarbro (obtained via open‑records request, OCR’d and reconciled June 2026)
- GPS records — death docket entries for all six decedents, including pending GBI medical examiner follow‑up for Powell
- GPS intel report (April 21, 2026) — allegation regarding unconscious inmate at Jenkins Facility
- Federal court records — Buttrum v. Herring (denial of motion to dismiss, March 17, 2026)
- GPS incident log — gang fight at Wilcox SP, Telfair SP conditions report, Smith SP RICO allegation, all tagged to Jenkins Facility during Dickerson’s tenure
Positions Held
| Title | Facility | Tenure |
|---|---|---|
| Warden (Jenkins Facility) | JENKINS FACILITY | 2024-01-01 → present |
Deaths attributed during tenure
6 people died at facilities under Dickerson, Terrance's leadership.
| Date | Decedent | Age | Facility | Role at time |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2026-04-21 | DUSTIN SCOTT SCARBRO | 27 | JENKINS FACILITY | Warden (Jenkins Facility) |
| 2026-04-17 | CHARLES EDWARD RICHEY | 58 | JENKINS FACILITY | Warden (Jenkins Facility) |
| 2025-04-10 | JASON BRENT MELTON | 41 | JENKINS FACILITY | Warden (Jenkins Facility) |
| 2025-01-09 | Alonzo Wright | — | JENKINS FACILITY | Warden (Jenkins Facility) |
| 2024-09-17 | JAMES LEE POWELL | 72 | JENKINS FACILITY | Warden (Jenkins Facility) |
| 2024-03-03 | EARL FRANKLIN WAGGY | 65 | JENKINS FACILITY | Warden (Jenkins Facility) |
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